MERSEY ambulance chiefs are to train volunteers to provide vital life support until paramedics arrive.

MERSEY ambulance chiefs are to train volunteers to provide vital life support until paramedics arrive.

The scheme launched today is believed to be the first in Britain to involve the public.

Volunteers, to be known as First Responders, will respond to 999 calls from their home.

The newly-trained personnel will be called out to heart attack victims or people suffering chest pains or breathing difficulties. They will be supplied with medical equipment including oxygen and a defibrillator.

They will operate on a rota basis to provide a round-the-clock service.

One First Responder will be on call at any one time and will carry a bleeper to be alerted to an emergency by ambulance control.

They will travel to the scene in their own car and will not be equipped with sirens or blue lights and will have no authority to exceed the speed limit.

Each First Responder is supplied with a Mersey Ambulance Regional Ambulance identification card, a fluorescent jacket bearing the words "First Responder" and a car badge permitting them to park in restricted areas.

First Responders are not paid a wage.

The scheme was unveiled today in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. Ambulance chiefs aim to roll out the scheme across Merseyside and Cheshire over the next two years.

Most of the areas chosen will be rural communities where the nearest ambulance station is farther away than in urban areas.

Steve Evans, a paramedic station officer, has been seconded by Mersey Ambulance to train the Holmes Chapel volunteers.

He said: "Community-based responders can often be at the scene of an incident quicker than the nearest ambulance, helping to save even more lives.

"All calls to which a communitybased responder is sent will always be backed up by the nearest paramedic ambulance."

Basil Jeuda, chairman of the Mersey Regional Ambulance NHS Trust, said: "This is the first such scheme that Mersey Regional Ambulance has launched and we are delighted so many people in Holmes Chapel have wanted to become involved."

Ray Carrick, spokesman for the Ambulance Service Union, said the scheme would not be a substitute for paramedics. He said: "If it assists in getting a person with a level of training to a patient, particularly in cardiac arrest cases, it has got to be useful."

The minimum age for a First Responder is 18. There is no upper age limit and consideration will be given to everyone who fits the criteria of having a reasonable level of fitness and their own transport.